WEATHERING WINTER WEATHER

“Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.”

Gregory Peck

NEITHER RAIN NOR SLEET….

I had to laugh as I captured this shot of a neighbor’s mailbox on my street last week.  As I thought about the old phrase “neither rain, nor sleet nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”  I realized that perhaps things are not as they once were.  Our one day storm, which delivered 5″ of snow and ice, prevented us from getting mail for 4 days. Our airport, much to the dismay of our many holiday visitors, was closed for 5. (I can hear the midwesterners and Canadians out there chuckling as they read along!)

SHINE A LIGHT

“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?”

T.S. Eliot

One of my favorite phrases is “making lemonade from lemons”. As I reconnected with friends following our relatively short-lived break from reality, I enjoyed hearing about their adventures and activities while house-bound. One of us took the opportunity to clean out her attic and ended up reliving fond memories with each box she opened 😀.  Nearly everyone took advantage of the time to read a good book or two including yours truly. As there was no way to get to the store, we laughed as a group at how each of us managed to make meals from what we had on hand.

CALM AFTER THE STORM

“Scars are not signs of weakness, they are signs of survival and endurance.”

Rodney A. Winters

Personally, I took advantage of the opportunity to try out my XT-2 on some scenes that (fortunately) only appear once or twice each decade here in the south. While it was extremely cold for the south, once the storm ended the sun shone brilliantly and the world around us was absolutely pristine.  I bundled up with hat, scarf, gloves, boots and my “puffy jacket”  (which I’d bought for our holiday trip north), and headed out to explore.

SWEETGRASS ICICLE

“Some days there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.”

Emory Austin

There was beauty at every turn and before long I was pocketing my hat and gloves and enjoying the crisp, cold air. My Fuji did not disappoint and I enjoyed being able to walk as far as I wanted while carrying it without back pain or stress on my neck.  I returned home energized and happy to have experienced the ice and snow before it melted. Little did I know there would be another 4 or 5 days before our roads would be passable and our plants would finally be free of the freeze.

WINTERY LAGOON

“A journey, I reflected, is of no merit unless it has tested you.”

Tahir Shah

Speaking of plants, for the most part they came through with flying colors. The few that were hard-hit were those that are not native to our environment. It was an excellent testament to the efforts of our Nature Conservancy – who several years ago spearheaded a successful campaign to educate homeowners about the importance of using native plants in our landscaping.

All in all, the residents, our non-winterized homes and our flora and fauna weathered the weather quite well.  This week we returned to milder temperatures (at least for a while), green fairways and navigable roads.  We leave the week with a new appreciation for our mild winters and a new empathy for our friends in the north.

 

WPC: Weathered

 

 

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Tags: weekly photo challenge

• January 12, 2018
• Ice, Kiawah, Landscape, Photography
• 124 Comments